Lorca: The Puppets and The Artist

Extract

It is quite natural for us to wonder why a great poet such as Lorca should devote so much energy and interest to a form of drama which in English-speaking countries is limited almost exclusively to the amusement of children. The reasons are several but simple. In Spain, as in other Mediterranean countries, puppet theatre is still a popular form of drama. That is to say, it is performed at fairs, festivals, and even in its own well established theatres—and performed for a general audience. And this holds true for both the major puppet traditions in the Spanish theatre: the violent Punch and Judy-like drama in which plot, theme, even logic are sacrificed to the brouhaha, as well as the more complex, romantic, musical, and somewhat narrative genre. In the romantic genre one finds three general approaches to the action.